Publications

April 2024
Supplement

RHI Magnesita (B): Brick by Brick—Diversification?

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, David M Wagner, Oliver Gassmann and Jordan Mitchell

In Part A, as of April 2017, Austria’s RHI, a backward integrated refractory company is still within the midst of merging with the next biggest competitor, Brazil’s Magnesita, while weighing options for future growth. Should the company pursue organic growth options... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Growth and Development Strategy; Diversification

October 2006 (Revised April 2007)
Case

Ayala Corporation

Ayala Corporation is the oldest conglomerate in the Philippines and has been controlled by the Zobel de Ayala family for seven generations. Over the past 25 years, Ayala has evolved from a real estate family business into a highly diversified and professionally managed... View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Family Business; Business Conglomerates; Valuation; Financial Strategy; Public Ownership; Real Estate Industry; Philippines

01 Dec 2008
News

Seth Klarman

all of the commingling and diversification it gives you, also gives you a lack of transparency. So if you have an environment like the one we have now, the assets that have been securitized actually make you worse off than if they were... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Finance

June 2005
Case

Growth and Profitability at Fresenius

By: Joel Podolny, Vincent Dessain, Monika Stachowiak and Anders Sjoman

In March 2005, Mark Schneider, CEO of Fresenius, is considering the group's strategic and organizational future. The highly decentralized 7 billion euro German health care group is active in three different business units, with the largest, FMC AG, listed separately... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Diversification; Organizational Structure; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Industry; Germany

January 2011
Case

AIC Netbooks: Optimizing Product Assembly

By: Steven C. Wheelwright and Sunru Yong

AIC Systems, located in Taichung, Taiwan, is a manufacturer of printed circuit boards, primarily for motherboards and video cards for personal computers. The firm is considered an original design manufacturer (ODM) and takes an active role in innovating and designing... View Details

Keywords: Performance Management; Quantitative Analysis; Manufacturing; Production Planning; Production Management; Diversification; Production; Performance Efficiency; Product Design; Performance Improvement; Mobile Technology; Manufacturing Industry; Electronics Industry; Taiwan

April 1989 (Revised December 1998)
Case

Masco Corp. (A)

By: Michael E. Porter and Cynthia A. Montgomery

Describes the history and corporate position of a large and successful producer of faucets and related household products. Masco is considering entry into the $14 billion furniture industry. Designed to be used with Household Furniture Industry in 1986 in a strategy... View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Market Entry and Exit; Corporate Strategy; Rank and Position; Consumer Products Industry

Keywords: Real Estate, Infrastructure, Insurance, Banking

Adi Godrej

Keywords: Diversified

26 Jun 2007
First Look

First Look: June 26, 2007

Working PapersTaxes, Institutions and Foreign Diversification Opportunities Authors:Mihir A. Desai and Dhammika Dharmapala Abstract Investors can access foreign diversification opportunities through either... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

July 2024
Module Note

Organization: Managing the Corporation

By: David J. Collis

Ongoing management of the corporate portfolio is critical to realizing value in diversified companies. This requires designing and administering structures, systems, and processes appropriate for the set of businesses and the resources that underpin value creation... View Details

Keywords: Organization; Corporate Strategy; Business Conglomerates; Business or Company Management; Diversification; Value Creation; Corporate Governance; Business Units

September 2009
Case

Intel NBI: Image Components Organization

By: Willy C. Shih and Thomas Thurston

The Image Components Organization (ICO) was an internal venture that was part of Intel's New Business Initiatives. It sought to initially develop and sell a high performance integrated CMOS image sensor module for cellular phones. ICO's opening assumptions were that it... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Product Development; Production; Failure; Diversification; Semiconductor Industry

Find at Harvard

17 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 17, 2009

Berkshire Hathaway describes the history and strategy of one of the best known investment firms over the last forty years. The case describes the investment philosophy of Warren Buffett, its legendary chairman and CEO, the gradual View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

08 Jun 2010
First Look

First Look: June 8

http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/10-102.pdf Does Diversification Create Value in the Presence of External Financing Constraints? Evidence from the 2008-2009 Financial Crisis Authors:Venkat Kuppuswamy and Belén Villalonga Abstract We... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

19 Jul 2011
First Look

First Look: July 19

common resources, such as advertising or production capacity, across activities. Within the literature on corporate strategy, this tension between focus and breadth is reconciled by the concept of related diversification (i.e., a firm... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Article

Merchants as Business Groups: British Trading Companies in Asia before 1945

By: G. Jones and Judith Wale

Merchants formed an important component of British foregn direct investment before 1945. Locating in parts of Asia, Latin America and other developing economies, they often diversified into non-trading activities, inclding the ownership of plantations. This article... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Developing Countries and Economies; Diversification; Competency and Skills; Entrepreneurship; Foreign Direct Investment; Asia; Latin America; Europe; Africa; North and Central America

Find at Harvard

2011
Other Unpublished Work

Functional Centralization and the Division of Labor in Management

By: Julie Wulf, Maria Guadalupe and Hongyi Li

This paper shows that the trend towards flatter hierarchies in large US firms since the mid-80's has been accompanied by increased centralization of activities at the top of the organization. In particular, the number of functional managers (e.g., Chief Financial... View Details

Keywords: Executive Compensation; Management Teams; Organizational Structure; Business Strategy; Diversification; Information Technology; United States

October 2024 (Revised March 2025)
Teaching Note

BWX Technologies

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Yuan Zou

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 124-071. View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Communication Intention and Meaning; Business and Shareholder Relations; Valuation; Diversification; United States; Canada

February 1993 (Revised April 1995)
Case

Sharp Corporation: Technology Strategy

By: David J. Collis and Tomo Noda

Teaches the evolution of the corporate strategy of Sharp Corp., Japan. Sharp Corp., a second-tier assembler of TV sets and home appliances, gradually and consistently improved performance by developing expertise in electronic device technologies such as specialized ICs... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Leadership; Performance Improvement; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Technology Adoption; Electronics Industry; Japan